Freed and Frosch, Because Alliteration
by Namey
Summary: This is a rather sad story about Freed and Frosch because I love Freed and everyone loves Frosch and, well, alliteration. It is what I believe you fanfic types refer to as a 'oneshot'...


**Freed and Frosch, Because Alliteration…**

There was that strange red light again, and everything began to shift. Freed felt his heart breaking; it was just one thing too many. He had battled so hard after the first time, to find his friends.

At least he was already down, so there was no falling, everything fell around him instead, and he didn't care. And he didn't bother to open his eyes when it stopped. There was so little of him left, so little magic, so little strength, he didn't think he would be able to move even if he cared to, even if…

"Rogue!"

Freed opened his eyes without thinking because the voice was so scared.

"Rogue, where are you? Where did you go? ROGUE!"

"Hey!" Freed made his voice work, miraculously.

"Who are you?" The tiny figure tottered towards him out of the mist, stopping, cautious, before getting too close.

Freed made the massive effort needed to sit up, making the world shake. And what world was it? There was little to see but mist and rocks. "I'm Freed," he said. "I've met you before, you're Frosch, Rogue's friend. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm all right, except… Do you know where Rogue is?" The little creature shuffled closer. It had tears running down its face, making tracks through the dirt.

"I'm afraid I don't," Freed said gently. "But perhaps I can help you find him." He got up onto his knees and held out his hand. It was easier to move when there was a reason to. "Can you fly? If you fly up above the mist you might be able to see where we are."

Frosch shook its head. "I'm too pooped to fly."

"Me too," said Freed. It was an understatement. He was unsure he would ever be able to fly again since his mind was so utterly blown and his body so, well…

"But you said you could help!"

The strange creature was like a child, tugging at Freed's arm, ripping at his heart as well. "All right, I'll try. I've met Rogue, but I don't know him. You'll have to tell me about him to make it work."

"Rogue's Rogue," Frosch furrowed its brow in confusion. "He's my best friend!"

Freed nodded. He wondered what he thought he was doing. But this little creature wanted to find its friend so fiercely there was energy in that longing. There was ethernano in the air as well, and all of it together making a tiny spark of magic…

"He's a dragon slayer, _you _know; the shadow dragon slayer. He can hide in shadows and come out of them and I suppose he doesn't say much most of the time, but _I_ know what he's thinking…"

It was enough to begin anyway. Freed let the runes form themselves. "Keep going," he said. "What else?"

"What are you doing?" Frosch asked, head on one side, staring at the swirling purple magic in Freed's hands.

Freed laughed. "I'm not sure. It's not just me anyway, it's you as well. You have to keep talking about Rogue or it'll stop."

"All right. Sometimes Rogue's funny. Most people don't know, but he tells me stories, funny ones. And when he laughs you can see crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Oh!"

The runes had made themselves into a circle and they were floating now, above Freed's hands.

"That's pretty!" said Frosch. "What is it?"

"It's your friend Rogue," Freed said, his voice soft and careful. "Or at least, I think that's what it's meant to be. Now where are you I wonder?"

As if in answer the crown of runes lifted higher, turning as it climbed. Freed pulled himself up almost without meaning to, to watch it.

"Is Rogue up in the sky?" Frosch asked.

"Shh!" said Freed.

The runes began to glow brighter, changing size as they spun round faster and faster, becoming a blur and finally a single point of white light whisking away like a shooting star.

"That way!" Frosch cried. "Come on, let's go!"

"I…" Freed gathered his scattered wits. Now he had managed to make magic to find someone, didn't that mean he could find anyone? He could find Laxus…

Frosch took his hand and pulled. "You're coming with me, aren't you? You have to!"

"I'm…" If it wasn't for this lost, bedraggled creature, wouldn't he still be lying in the rubble waiting to die? And Frosch's hand was warm. Perhaps it was the only warm thing in the world. Freed smiled. "Yes, I'm coming with you," he said.

xxx

"What's that?" Frosch woke up suddenly.

"What's what?" Freed couldn't hear anything. He couldn't see anything either, since his eyes had tuned out the world as he walked, carrying his new friend through a landscape of ruined town and wasteland. Nothing changed anyway; mist and grey, mist and grey, and it had been hours. Perhaps he was sleepwalking. And as he walked he had become less and less certain that they were going anywhere meaningful, following a rune in a direction they could easily have dreamed.

"It's Rogue! I heard his voice!" The exceed was away, on wings that had appeared in the space of a thought. Gone.

And there _was_ a voice. There were voices. Freed felt colder without Frosch in his arms. He woke up enough to notice the hills and the trees around him and to feel the magic, his own magic come back, at least a little, as he had walked all that way. Enough to… He swung his unruly thoughts around to make an image of Laxus, forced himself to think of just Laxus, nothing else, and to concentrate that feeling into a flow of energy…

"Hey, Freed!"

The magic fizzled and died and the runes faded away as the shouting voice became the shape of a young, dark-haired dragon slayer bounding out of the trees and seizing both Freed's shoulders. "You found Frosch! You brought him back to me!" The man had rivers of tears running down his face so that his hair was wet with them.

"We found each other," Freed said.

"I don't know how I can ever thank you." Rogue flung his arms around Freed and held him so tight Freed felt the world swing once again. It was wonderful, just for that moment to be held, warm and safe.

And Frosch was there too, flying spirals around them. "Freed is my friend," Frosch said. "He's nice and he has beautiful green hair."

Rogue let go finally, and stepped back, wiping his face with a sleeve. "We should help you now," he said gruffly. "What do you need? Frosch says you're looking for your friends too. If there's anything… Hey, is that your blood?"

Freed glanced down to where Rogue was looking. His red coat hid it mostly, but there was a darker patch, spread much wider than the last time he had looked. "I'm trying not to think about it," he said. "You're very kind, but I'll be all right. Look Frosch, I'm going to find my friend Laxus, the way we found Rogue."

"With the purple shapes?"

"Shh," said Freed. And he concentrated again on Laxus, blanking out Frosch and Rogue and everything around them until all he had was the idea of Laxus and the power of his own magic, making the runes flow and slowly circle, then spin and flick off into the air like a bolt of lightning.

The world and everyone in it was gone, there was nothing but that light. And it was so easy! The light did not fade and Freed found he could fly without even making wings.


End file.
